First step – fight back:

Build the radical left

The ‘Platform Radical Left‘ is a supra-regional platform for connecting and organizing radical leftist groups. We are not a coalition, but a platform for various political contexts and groups that partly differ in their political positions and approaches. Yet, all of us share an opposition to the existing capitalist conditions. We are sure that a consistent rejection of ideologies that emerge from these conditions – like nationalism, sexism, antisemitism, authoritarianism and not least rascism – is a prerequisite for emancipatory political actions.
Through mutual exchange and intense cooperation, we want to increase the visibility of our interventions and combine our strengths. By this, we will increase the antiauthoritarian and emancipatory left’s ability to act in times in which the societal discourse is steadily moving to the right. Extensive theoretical discussions and solidary exchange within the ‚Platform Radical Left‘ allow us to deepen and distribute our radical critique of society.
We know that it’s not enough to solely fight the most visible atrocities of this system, like the rapid rise of the FPÖ, the daily increase of neo nazi-marches, the militarization of the (external) borders, the deteriorating violence against refugees on many levels, the violence against women* and so on. The declared objective of the ‘Platform Radical Left’ is to develop and organize a critique of society that goes beyond the existing and takes a stand against social-political domination as a whole. With our actions, we want to implement our critique in practice and try to push this oppressing system and its basic structures to its limits. As long as there is exploitation and oppression, we fight for a society in which all of us can be different without fear.
What is to be done? We believe that, in the current situation, it is essential to stick to a radical perspective and to make us jointly capable of acting. This platform is the first step of networking that makes us accessible. We can only expand radical leftist structures and networks, if we support one another and practise active solidarity with those who face special hardships in this society – like LGBTIQ*-persons, people affected by antisemitism and/or racism, antifascists, refugees and – sadly – many more. A radical left that actively intervenes in societal debates is needed! As ‘Platform Radical Left’ we want to invite all of you to participate in upcoming events, debates and projects.

Antifa 15

From our perspective, antifascism is obviously necessary. Dealing with reactionary right-wing ideology is an unavoidable task in this country. National-Socialist and fascist ideas don’t merely exist in marginalized right-wing (so called) extremist groups, they root inside „democracy“ and they are common amongst large parts of it’s population. Our aim is not to defend bourgeoise society against nazis. On the contrary, we want to radically question and criticize the way this society is organized, as we think this is unbearable. The capitalist system produces sorrow and misery all over the world. Our lives are structured according to criteria of exploitation and utilization. Every day we have to face reactionary ideology, such as antisemitism, racism, sexism, nationalism and homophobia.

As an antifascist neighborhood-collective in Vienna we try to focus on recognizing and naming the different forms of these relations of domination (not only) in our closest living environment – in order to be able to fight them. Oppression has many faces – it does not only work as direct top-down repression. We also reproduce it in our daily lives. As a collective we do not only want to analyse and fight structures of oppression but also reflect our own behaviors and practices.